Sleeping With Ghosts
by Jade Crimson Tears
Summary: Azureshipping. There's a light at each end of this tunnel. You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out. And these mistakes you've made. You'll just make them again. If you'd only try turning around. - Anna Nalick. Anzu x Kaiba
1. Chapter One

**Sleeping With Ghosts**

**- Chapter One -**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story._

* * *

On the first year anniversary of Atem's death, Anzu showed up on Kaiba's doorstep with some flowers and an awkward smile.

He looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head.

"I know you miss him too." She said, cracking a grin. "Let's celebrate his death."

He requested that she take her madness elsewhere before he calls security.

"Aw, Seto." She smiled, genuinely this time. "The flowers are for you. I've missed seeing you also." Before he could speak further, she pushed the marigolds into his hands and slipped past him to enter the mansion.

As he closed the door to lead her up to his bedroom, Kaiba had the fleeting thought that either madness is contagious or he needs to revisit his psychiatrist.

Anzu popped herself down onto Kaiba's impossibly large and comfortable bed, whilst the other had no choice but to sit on a chair. He threatened to kick her out if she didn't behave.

She sat up and told him to stop being a sore rectum.

* * *

They talked about Atem. Their conversations always revolved around Atem, of course. Kaiba would spit, scratch and claw, in a metaphorical sense, at the pharaoh's cowardliness, hypocriticalness, and general jackassness, and Anzu would laughingly say that he is just sour because he didn't get a chance to buy his love interest an open casket. Kaiba would then move on to demean Yugi for habit's sake, and Anzu, as protective as she is of her best friend, didn't have the heart to not forgive Kaiba, when she was the only one who could make out the flash of pain in his eyes as he lingered his gaze on Yugi for a tad too long.

She would try to lift Kaiba's spirits by listing his positive attributes. He would return her compliments with a snarl.

They were a hopeless pair, really.

In a way, Atem was Kaiba's sustenance. With him gone, Kaiba looked starved, probably was, and it made Anzu want to cry. She couldn't help but to notice the bottle of antidepressants on his nightstand.

They were only grieving, and struggling to make their lives meaningful again.

* * *

"You are a very, very attractive man." Anzu slurred, a few hours later.

"Everyone is, after three glasses of wine."

"No, you don't understand. You stand out from the rest of them, like a peacock from chickens."

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose. "You've had too much. I'm driving you home."

"Seto…" She wrapped her arms around his neck, "you have many likable characteristics."

"Really?" He tried to steady her. "I am interested. What characteristics of mine remind you of-"

She silenced him with a kiss. "Don't be cruel."

"Why do you have a thing for cocky bastards? Are you that masochistic?"

"Please… I can only afford to be like this when I'm with you."

He held her to make sure that she was comfortable, as she continued explore his mouth. Her hands roamed around his body and he stood perfectly still. It hurt so much and felt so good that he wanted to take her then and there.

He didn't move an inch. It was his turn to stay sane tonight.

* * *

As they stumbled downstairs to drink water for their sore heads, Anzu grabbed handfuls of salt and pepper and sprinkled them over Kaiba's hair.

He glowered. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Diamond dust for my beautiful host." She peered at him under what she presumed were full, heavy lashes.

Grimacing, he brought the glass to her lips and helped her drink. She spluttered and complained about the tastelessness of water. He massaged the back of her head until she took it all in.

She leaned against him, laughing a throaty laugh. He didn't understand the joke, didn't understand the way she fitted so perfectly into his arms.

She pressed her lips into his for the second time, moaning in protest as he gently steered her away.

"Make me feel, Seto." She pleaded. "Make me feel and make me forget."

When he didn't answer, she lunged at him and kissed him with all her might. He closed his eyes, hormones racing and the effects of alcohol taking over. She felt him through the fabric of his jeans, as he held helplessly onto her. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, as she guided his hands up her thighs, over her chest. There was nothing he could do to bring this ridiculous tryst to an end.

"Anzu, stop…"

"It's only sex. Think of it as pain relief, if you must."

He spun her around and pinned her against the cupboard door. "Please stop seducing me." He demanded, head heavy and breathing laboured. "If you make me lose my last ounce of control, I will not be responsible for my actions thereafter."

"That's exactly what I want, for you to fuck me through and through so that every trace of Atem is removed from me."

He gave a bitter smile. "As tempting as that sounds, I refuse."

"Gods, only you'd have enough blood in the brain to turn down that offer."

"I know." He whispered, running his thumb along her bottom lip. "I'm a gentleman like that."

* * *

"Atem is like Narcissus, don't you think?" Anzu asked, sprawling on Kaiba's bed as the other sat carefully at the edge. "All the boys and girls were in love with him, but he was too in love with himself to notice."

"That, or he was in love with death." Kaiba snorted.


	2. Chapter Two

**Sleeping With Ghosts**

**- Chapter Two -**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story._

* * *

After surveying her surroundings and recalling with mortification, the events which took place from the night before, Anzu buried her head into her hands.

Stupid her, for giving into the pain, and stupid Kaiba, for not taking advantage of her vulnerabilities. If they had been partners in crime, the guilt would be easier to deal with. As for shame...

She took a gulp from the glass he had left for her and unfolded the note beneath it.

_I have a meeting to attend and am working after hours tonight. I would still like to touch base with you, however. Drop by my office at 8pm, I will be ordering cheesecake. _

– _S. K._

She tried to suppress all her thoughts except for the one about Kaiba having beautiful handwriting.

It didn't work. Being heart-broken was no reason to sexually harass the most formidable man in Domino.

She buried her head into her hands with a groan.

* * *

At eight o'clock sharp, Anzu said a silent prayer to the universe and beyond, smoothed down her skirt, and knocked.

"Enter."

She walked towards Kaiba's work desk, wringing and unwringing her hands as he offered her a seat. Before the other could say anything, she bowed her head and blurted out something inaudible.

"I beg your pardon?"

She took a deep breath, unable to meet the piercing blue of his gaze. "I am so sorry for all the trouble that I have caused you last night. Being drunk was no excuse to behave out of line."

"Relax, I thought nothing of it, although I will think twice before offering you liquor again."

"Gomen." Her shoulders slumped.

"I was only joking. I didn't ask you to come here for an apology."

"Then… why?"

"To check up on you. Anyway, here's the comfort food I promised." He opened the dessert box and pushed it towards her.

Tentatively, Anzu took a small piece into her mouth. "Wow, this is really good. Mango and passionfruit's my favourite."

He frowned as she wolfed down a rather large portion of the dessert, and then a larger one still. "This is divine. Do you want to have some?" She muttered between mouthfuls.

There was cheesecake stuck to the right corner of her mouth, which he carefully retrieved with the tip of his forefinger. As he proceeded to lick it clean, a whimper escaped her mouth.

"So, I finally got you to look at me."

Moments passed.

"Anzu."

She was shaken out of her stupor. "What?"

"Breathe." Kaiba smirked.

* * *

They were as different as the sun and the moon.

Aside from being brown-haired and blue-eyed, the only commonality they shared was the obsession over a dead, Egyptian monarch.

There couldn't be any attraction between them, even though both knew that they were very attractive people.

* * *

"I am a bad person." Anzu confessed, a cheesecake later and tears brimming. "It was so easy, you know? Back then, you and him, black and white. I was self-righteous and naïve, it was the worst combination."

Kaiba massaged his temples with a tired hand. "I told you that eating too much sugar was a bad idea."

"There were a lot of things that I didn't understand, especially matters concerning you, and some of the things I said to you, I had no right."

"Don't worry about it, it is in the past now and I was fucked up anyway. What goes around comes around. I only got served what I deserved."

"Me too!" She concurred with an enthusiasm that made him jump. "Atem was someone who I thought would stick around forever, you know? As for you, well, at the time, I couldn't wait for you to be gone. In the end, he left, like we were nothing to him, and you are here, listening to my nonsense. Karma is a bitch, but I am no better. I guess the irony's on me."

"Mazaki, stop. You are hurting yourself."

"I think it's a little late for that."

* * *

Kaiba didn't know what possessed him to catch Anzu's lips with his own. He told himself later that he only did it to stop her from crying. He had meant for the kiss to be chaste, but somehow got lost in the sweetness of her mouth when she opened it to protest. He wasn't supposed to kiss her hard, if at all, but she responded as if she had wanted him in ways that she didn't care to think about, and he had needed to protect her, to possess her, in ways that he wasn't willing to admit. In the end, neither was sure who pulled away for air, only that if it didn't happen sooner, they would probably chance passing out.

"What… was that?"

Confusing as hell, but satisfying all the same.

He petted her hair. "Think of it as pain relief, if you must."

* * *

"Seto, your eyes are really really blue right now." Anzu remarked, feeling happy and strangely sated.

"Pot calling the kettle black."

"I mean yours change to this intense colour sometimes, like when you are at the climax of a duel or in the middle of shouting at people."

"Mmm." Kaiba gave an absent-minded nod. "They tend to get like that when I'm aroused."

Her jaw dropped. "You… pervert! How could you?"

"Huh? I meant emotional arousal, as in excitement, anger..."

Desire.

"Wait, don't go, I can explain. Anzu, are you listening to me?"


	3. Chapter Three

**Sleeping With Ghosts**

**- Chapter Three -**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story._

* * *

Her silhouette danced across his eyelids. He could feel her, slipping through his preconscious and just beyond the reach of his fingertip.

In his dreams, he would lean in to steal a kiss from her, as she tangled her hands in his hair. He pulled her in for another, forcing them close, yet still wishing for them to be closer.

She pushed him down to straddle his waist, her long dancer's legs clenching him tight. Desire coursed through his body, making it hard for him to think about anything other than to press his body against hers, to inhale her scent, as he bore his soul.

When she bent down to suck the pulse point on his neck, Kaiba arched off the bed and gasped.

* * *

"You have grown so much, it's almost hard to believe." Anzu addressed the grey-eyed teen across the table. "Thank you for asking me to catch up for coffee."

"It's all right. There is actually something I wanted to ask of you, anyway."

"Go right ahead!"

"Forgive my brashness, but are you and Nisama involved?"

"What…? No. Seto and I–"

"Please do not address my brother so informally."

Mokuba's eyes narrowed, much like the way his older sibling's did, and Anzu had to remind herself that the teen, despite being five years her junior, is a Kaiba, too.

"Right. I mean, there is nothing between Kaiba-kun and I, if that is what you are asking."

"You have always been a terrible liar."

She clutched her coffee cup at the recollection of what they had faced together, and the rapport that they seemed to share, now lost.

"Please help me understand why I am here."

"Nisama is not made from a hunk of ice. You of all people should know that. Yet you poke around his wounds to see if he can respond like a human."

"I was only trying to be helpful. It was never my intention to–"

"To be frank, your altruistic behaviour is fucking with his head, and fucking up his heart. I do not want a repeat of Yami no Yugi."

Silence hung in the hair, as Mokuba stirred his coffee, contemplating on his rebuttal should the other refuse to comply. He didn't know why he was treating the situation as if it were corporate matter, or why he was firing accusations without any consideration of someone he thought to be a friend.

Blood is blood. There is nothing, no one he cannot hurt for the sake of Nisama.

The coffee left a bitter taste on his tongue.

"Wakatta." She finally answered. Her eyes stung as she forced herself to smile.

"Please trust my judgement… and leave him."

What was meant to be request came very close to a plea, and Mokuba looked, for the first time, like the young teen Anzu used to know.

* * *

What they had was not a love story. There were no ties in the past life to bind them, nor fate to grant them a shared future.

They had no business in each other's lives.

If Atem was here, would he laugh at their foolishness?

* * *

"To what do I owe this visit?" Anzu glared at her unwelcome guest, in the hopes that he would pick up the hint and leave.

"I'm not allowed to see you for the sake of seeing you?"

"Well, not exactly. Does Mokuba even know that you are here?"

"I didn't realize that I was on home detention." Kaiba said with a frown. "Wait, did he say something to you?"

"No, he is a sweet–"

"The runt! Is this why you've been avoiding me?"

"Not at all."

"You are an awful liar." He scolded, disapproving.

"Kaiba-kun, please go home, you will get me into trouble."

"That's not the name you used when you tried to shove your tongue down my throat."

Face flaming, Anzu could only stare. Kaiba was dressed more casually than usual, with black leather pants clinging to him like second skin and a light blue denim shirt that accentuated his eyes.

"I did no such thing." She fought to maintain the steadiness of her voice.

"I took you in when you invited yourself to mine for a sleepover, and let you use my bed."

"That doesn't mean I'm obliged to let you stay." She crossed her arms, determined to make her stance.

"I need a friend."

"I beg your pardon?"

His eyes sparkled in amusement. "You heard me, friendship fairy."

Anzu's body reacted, for all the wrong reasons.

"You are so full of shit." Came her gruff reply.

* * *

Kaiba sat in the lounge, sculling peach iced tea after rummaging through Anzu's refrigerator. She told him off for being wasteful. He argued that she was meant to be saving them for special occasions such as these.

Against her better judgement, she told him that a more economical use would be to have said bottle of peach iced tea - generously shoved - up his sorry excuse for a backside.

He asked if she was suffering from premenstrual syndrome.

Kaiba had deadlines to meet, and Anzu was due for dance practice at 7am, yet they bantered into the night, like there wasn't a single thing in the world that they could agree on, and there wasn't anyone but them in the world.

Anzu and Kaiba loved throwing insults back and forth, because it was the closest thing to foreplay they allowed themselves to have.


End file.
